


Thank You for Never Listening

by link621



Category: X/1999
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-09-08
Updated: 2004-09-08
Packaged: 2017-11-25 10:24:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/link621/pseuds/link621
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The final battle has just ended. Nokoru and Akira are left to pick up the pieces that remain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You for Never Listening

Nokoru sadly picked his clock up off the floor of his office, wondering silently to himself if he’d ever be able to replace the mascot-shaped, dysfunctional, eyesore of a clock that he adored. He placed the clock on his desk next to the stack of papers he had managed to salvage and the broken remains of the picture frame that contained a perfectly intact photograph of him with his two best friends. “At least the world was not destroyed,” Nokoru muttered, a little defeated.  
  
“Rijichou, we’ll have this cleaned up in no time! Don’t worry!” Akira picked his way across the mess that was Nokoru’s office, coming to stand beside the Chairman of CLAMP campus. “Remember when we were young, we had messes like this all the time! Takumura-sempai would make us clean them up, and you would be too distracted by a damsel in distress, and it would end up that Takamura-sempai would deal with the mess himself...” Nokoru and Akira shared a laugh at that. “It’s good to see that smile, Rijichou.”  
  
“Thank you, Akira,” Nokoru replied, putting a hand to the man’s shoulder. “But, you don’t have to help me clean up, here. You should be looking after your wife.” Nokoru and Akira both took a moment to reflect on what Utako was doing at that point—probably busying herself about the house to clean up the mess—storming about muttering to herself about how the house wasn’t neat enough for her husband, and that she was a failure as a wife. “On second thought, Akira, perhaps I could use a hand here,” Nokoru amended.  
  
“Great, I’d love to help,” Akira said, looking a little concerned—likely for the same reason as the chairman. They continued to try to salvage everything in the office that they could, especially the important documents that seemed to be in every part of the room. After a half hour of silence, organizing the office, it looked more or less like it had before.  
  
Nokoru flopped into his chair. “I can’t believe we still haven’t had word from the Dragons of the Heaven,” he said a little flippantly. “Do you think something happened?”   
  
“We’re here, aren’t we?” Akira replied. “I’m sure everything is fine. Shirou-kun is probably just in a state of shock. He and Monou-kun were....”  
  
“I know.” Nokoru leaned back in his chair as Akira took a seat at his own desk. “What of Sumeragi-san? He left to help Kamui-kun before the fight. You don’t think that he...?” Akira shook his head. Nokoru let his head droop. “I suppose we will find out soon enough,” he said quietly.   
  
“Rijichou... are you worried about Takamura-sempai?” Nokoru turned to Akira, clearly surprised at the question. “He’s been gone for quite a while. I thought he was never supposed to leave your side—since you are his charge...”  
  
“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine,” Nokoru insisted, looking down at his lap. “He’s a ninja, remember? He just went to check on the students. He’ll be back later, I’m sure.” Akira raised an eyebrow at Nokoru. Nokoru looked back at Akira. “Any word from Duklyon?”  
  
“I’m worried about him,” Akira said, as though Nokoru had not spoken. “He normally wouldn’t make us wait this long...” Akira sighed, looking up at Nokoru with huge, sad eyes. “Nokoru, perhaps you should go look for him—just in case something went wrong.” At this thought, Nokoru stood, pacing the room anxiously.  
  
“And risk his wrath when he finds out that I left the safety of the office to go track him down?” Nokoru gave a short laugh. “He’s fine, Akira. He’ll be back soon enough anyway.” Nokoru’s hands went to his bookcase, trying to right the few books that had managed to stay on the shelves during the tumultuous proceeding hours.  
  
Akira also stood, crossing the room to stand near Nokoru. His voice was low and even when next he spoke. “He wanted to be with you, in that moment—if the world had ended,” Akira pointed out, taking a small step in Nokoru’s direction. “When you asked him to take care of your students for you—I’ve never seen him so torn.”   
  
Nokoru came to a complete stop, his trembling hands resting on the wooden frame of the bookcase. He bowed his head enough to shade his eyes with his hair.   
  
Akira put a hand on Nokoru’s shoulder. “Nokoru,” he said, deliberately using the name, “Takamura-sempai cried when you went through that door. When you said you were going to go to the center of campus and wait there.” Akira’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He thought you would die.”  
  
”Any word on Nagisa-jo?” Nokoru asked, his voice raspy.  
  
“Rijichou!” Akira snapped in disbelief. “I don’t like to be angry,” he began, “but you are really starting to get on my nerves!” Nokoru turned blue eyes to his best friend, amazed at the outburst. “I am trying to tell you that Takamura-sempai is in love with you! Stop changing the subject!”  
  
“He isn’t in love with me, Akira,” Nokoru said simply, a ghost of a smile haunting thin lips. “He feels he has a duty to fulfill to me. That’s it.” Nokoru moved away from the bookshelf, sliding out of Akira’s grasp. His would-be graceful retreat was interrupted when he tripped up slightly on something on the ground. He looked down to see the fan, that had once been in the ceiling, circulating air, in pieces on the ground at his feet.  
  
“Rijichou, if the world had ended, what would be your final wish?” Akira’s question came as a surprise to Nokoru. More surprising, however, was how easy it was for him to answer the question. Still, he didn’t vocalize his thoughts. “To tell him,” Akira supplied.  
  
“You love him.”  
  
Nokoru nodded. Though, the moment after he did, he realized it was not Akira who had spoken the second time. He turned to see Suoh stood in the doorway, looking a bit beat-up. However, even the near end of human existence wasn’t enough to shake the ninja. He looked as calm and collected as ever. There was even a small, satisfied smile on his face.  
  
“Suoh…” Nokoru trailed off. “Is Nagisa-jo okay…?” He took a step in Suoh’s direction, tripping over the fan a second time. Suoh, by instinct, was there in a split-second to catch him. Normally, though, as soon as Nokoru righted himself, Suoh would let go.  
  
This time, Nokoru didn’t bother to stand straight. “Nagisa-jo is fine,” Suoh said lightly, taking Nokoru into a proper hug. “And, I’m glad to see you’re still here.”  
  
”Me too,” Nokoru whispered, though “glad” didn’t even start to encompass his feelings. “Glad” didn’t even begin to justify the tears in his eyes, the lump in his throat, and the slow, heavy beat of his heart. “Your desk was destroyed,” Nokoru whispered, though his voice was strained. For some reason, the tears began to fall faster. “Ours are fine, but yours was destroyed. My bookcase fell on it.”  
  
Suoh’s embrace tightened, one of his hands running through Nokoru’s hair. “I don’t love her, Nokoru,” he declared suddenly.  
  
Nokoru stiffened at the use of his name—and the words Suoh had spoken. “I’m sorry?”  
  
Suoh hid his eyes against Nokoru’s shoulder. “When I thought about it—about the world ending—I realized that I didn’t want for anything but to be by your side. I could only think of you. So much, in fact, that I went against your orders and followed you. I know you didn’t see me, but I was there with you. I wanted to protect you then, even if the world was still going to end.”  
  
Nokoru let out a choked sob, his arms fastening around Suoh. “I’m glad,” he said, using that unsubstantial word again. He wasn’t glad at all. He was relieved, elated, and heartsick all at once. And, he also wasn’t going to be able to keep it in for much longer. “Suoh—I’m so glad you didn’t listen to me.”  
  
Suoh let out a stressed bark of laughter that sounded a bit more like a sob itself. “Me too,” he agreed.  
  
Akira quietly watched the reunion with a smile. There had been a time when he had been jealous of the fact that Nokoru and Suoh shared a deeper connection than he did with either of them, but as time progressed, he had learned why, and it no longer bothered him. Suoh, from the moment he met Nokoru, had always belonged to the older boy, heart, body, and soul.  
  
A private giggle escaped Akira before he could stop himself. After all these years, it still took the world ending for them to realize how much they mattered to one another. The world’s smartest man and the world’s most observant ninja couldn’t see how much they needed one another until the very last moment they had to realize it.  
  
Akira silently left the room. He, too, had someone he wanted to spend this joyous moment with.


End file.
